Alex White

Name: Alex Patrick White

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: 12

School: Bayview Secondary School

Hobbies and Interests: Classical Music, Piano, Backpacking, Track, Self Defense.

Appearance: An athletic young man, Alex weighs in at roughly 173 lbs composed mostly of muscle mass, with only a small bit of that being excess weight. Standing in at 5'9", Alex takes after his father's side of the family when it comes to his build as opposed to his mother's side, most of whom barely reach 5'4". Another aspect of his build influenced by his father is the capabilities of his muscle mass, peaking out at a rather impressive lift of 70lbs per arm at his peak; this is a difficult task however, and represents the maximum his current build can feasibly support.

Generally kept in a rather short, groomed style, Alex's dark auburn hair has seen quite a bit of neglect in recent years, very little having been done to keep it healthy and very little done on his part to make sure trimming it was done properly. Most of the time, his hair often appears to be uneven, likely a result of his choice in style differing from his choice of cut; Alex will often change how he combs or styles his hair after becoming dissatisfied with how it was styled when it was cut.

Inheriting a tell tale sign of his familial roots, Alex got his copper colored skin tone from his mother and her side of the family, though he didn't inherit her sense of skin care. Callused hands from an active life and a number of scars from childhood and adolescent accidents are only a few of the numerous flaws with his skin, but they are also the most noticeable flaws. The rest are mere cosmetic flaws, such as dry skin or the occasional, if highly frequent, sunburn as a result of his active life and his tendency to spend much of his time outdoors and in the sun. When it comes to his skin and caring for it, vanity is certainly a concept that Alex does not give much heed to, if he has considered it at all. As a result, Alex will occasionally suffer from an outbreak of mild acne after certain activities or during times of high stress.

While not exactly a prime example of a handsome young adult, Alex is far from homely when it comes to his face. Large, slightly wide set peridot eyes set beneath a fairly low brow, accompanied by a moderately wide bridged nose with similarly wide set nostrils. A small perpetual smile is worn upon his relatively thin lips, shaded and framed by the short stubble that covers much of his jaw line, something he is intent on growing out for as long as he can just for the sake of growing a beard, however short it may currently be.

A fan of mostly casual clothing and plenty of denim, Alex's wardrobe tends to range between a couple different outfit types. A solid color button-down shirt and slacks is quite common, but as is a brand hoodie and a pair of dark jeans. If he is planning on spending the day working out or being overly active, he'll often stick to sleeveless shirts and shorts. His most popular outfit, however, would certainly have to be a white button-down shirt and a pair of old blue jeans, topped off with a faded denim jacket he can't quite bring himself to throw away.

Biography: The second child of Robert White, a former Pittsburgh police officer and self defense instructor, and Maria White née Pilar, a high school music teacher and part-time piano tutor, Alex was born July 13th, 1990, at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Complications during child birth, among them being fetal distress and breech presentation, lead to Alex being born via Caesarean section. Their first child, Micheal Andrew White, Alex's older brother, was born four years prior.

Alex's early years were mostly influenced by his mother and maternal grandfather, leading to a very early interest in music that would eventually become one of his major lifelong passions. Even from a young age, Alex showed remarkable skill in playing the piano, able to copy his mother and grandfather and With his father being mostly absent for the first six years of his life due to his line of work, Alex formed a rather close connection with his mother and grandfather which has held strong through the years. His relationship with his older brother, on the other hand, was not very strong at all, and indeed they were often at each others throats. A less than ordinary sibling rivalry was born from this, and Alex and his brother continued to have a strained relationship for the next two years.

Throughout the years, Alex's relationship with his father has alternated between strained and amiable, and in an attempt to repair their relationship when it became strained, his father would often take Alex and his brother out backpacking in a state park. This has gone on to become a regular activity for the three of them, often taking one weekend a month to go out backpacking; this was a way for Alex, his brother, and his father to bond and become closer despite the lack of time spent together. Not only did it serve as a great bonding activity, but it was also a wonderful outlet for the overly energetic Alex, an outlet that was sure to work even if piano practice failed as an outlet.

When Alex was about eight years old, his father lost his job as a result of an injury sustained during what was to be a routine traffic stop that turned to a rather serious traffic accident, causing him to lose most of his left leg and rendering him incapable of continuing his work. Using a prosthetic, Alex's father was able to return to a relatively normal life, but it meant an end to the weekends spent backpacking for quite some time, something that visibly upset both Alex and his brother. With their father relying upon them now more than ever, Alex and his brother had to rely upon and trust in each other in order to take care of themselves and their father as he recovered, and as a result they managed to repair their strained relationship and work together towards a common goal.

When Alex's parents found themselves struggling to keep their home in Pittsburgh, they began to search for a solution to their problem. With his father unable to work while recovering and going through physical therapy, the burden was left to Alex's mother to try and hold everything together until they could find a solution. The solution, despite being a less than desired one, would come to them rather soon in the form of a death in the family. Alex's paternal grandparents had died in their sleep from natural causes at the ages of 75 and 83 respectively, leaving a hefty inheritance and their home, located just outside of St. Paul, Minnesota, to their son, Alex's father Robert White. With the life insurance left over after the funeral arrangements, they had more than enough money to live off of until Alex's father could find a job.

Upon moving to Minnesota, Alex was enrolled in St. Francis de Sales Primary School, where he met a one William M. Hearst and, in accepting William's offer to assist Alex improve his slipping grades, Alex found himself with a new friend. This friendship has continued through the years and culminated in a homosexual relationship during the end of freshman year and the beginning of sophomore year, ending when both Alex and William reached the conclusion that they were more comfortable as friends. While William helped Alex with his grades and enabled him to carry on a relatively good B average in his classes, Alex helped William become more outgoing and turned him on to hiking, camping, and perhaps most important, backpacking. With William at his side, Alex was finally able to resume pursuing this passion for the outdoors, and inspired by his reclaimed hobby and a suggestion made by William, he decided to take up a school sport that seemed natural to him. This was Track, perhaps the only sport that Alex found himself to be good at and perhaps the only sport that Alex wished to take part in.

Outside of school, Alex's relationship with his family had become increasingly uneasy around sophomore year. His mother had become engrossed in pursuing a career in music outside of teaching, holding high goals that she spent all her time trying to achieve. His brother had moved out of the family home and into the dorms at his college in order to pursue a career in law enforcement just as their father had, and as a result he rarely returned home to spend time with the family. Alex's father had managed to find a new job teaching self defense classes, a subject he had tried to encourage his family to take an interest in, and one that Alex quickly picked up on in his spare time with his father. Hoping to spend more time with his father, Alex enrolled in the self defense classes that his father taught, knowing ahead of time that it would be tough and demanding work. He saw it as something that was worth the work, however, and believed that it was rewarding enough to warrant the work, enjoying the time he spent with his father and using it to bridge a gap that had slowly started to grow.

Taking part in group activities, such as Track and Self Defense classes, resulted in Alex gaining more than a few friends with similar interests, with quite a few of these friends being fellow students at Bayview Secondary. Because of this, Alex's outgoing personality, and his penchant for including everyone he can in any sort of social activity, Alex has reached a level of popularity in the school that he is quite comfortable with; Able to call anyone a friend yet not quite to the point of being part of any specific clique. Despite this popularity, however, Alex does not seem to actively pursue anyone romantically, resulting in a rather limited list of people whom he admits to having an interest in, and an even shorter list of former loves.

Perhaps due to his habit of try to take part in more activities than he has time for, Alex has developed quite a problem with stress and fatigue, something he has yet to admit to himself and something he has long struggled with, going back so even to his childhood. A solution came during high school when he was offered amphetamines to help him focus during moments of fatigue and keep him from slipping too far in his studies. Starting this unfortunate habit during the middle of sophomore year and hiding it even from those closest to him, Alex has since continued to actively abuse amphetamines, keeping this habit well into his senior year and refusing to slow down his life or end his participation in one or more activities, relying upon the amphetamines instead of taking a break.

Advantages: One of Alex's major physical strengths is definitely his active lifestyle. By actively taking part in sports, self defense training, and casual exercise, Alex is able to lift well around 65 to 70 lbs with either arm, albeit with quite some difficulty, an impressive feat for his relatively light frame. An avid outdoorsman and participant in track has lent Alex formidable speed and balance, as well as a rudimentary knowledge of the outdoors and procedures used during camping. An outgoing, friendly young man, Alex is comfortable with and tends to surround himself with friends, an advantage he has used to gain favor with his peers. His experience in self defense classes, while limited, imparts him with a favorable skill set should a less-than-desired situation arise in life.

Disadvantages: A result of his active lifestyle and refusal to slow down has led to Alex having serious stress and fatigue problems, leading him to often being drained and left wanting for energy. His active life style also involves pushing his body to the limit more often than he should, often leaving him sore and prone to injury as he hasn't quite learned when to slow down. While his experience with backpacking and track have given him speed, his lifestyle and fatigue issues have robbed him of much of his endurance, leaving him drained even after a short run lately, almost negating any positive effect he may have gained. Another issue with his life style is that, in his habit of trying to do too many things at once, he will often lose focus and will often succumb to fatigue, causing him to rely upon an amphetamine addiction to get through the school day, but losing this could leave him lacking and, depending upon how advanced his addiction is, may lead to adverse effects. As always, stress is never a good thing and with Alex's life style, stress is something he hasn't been able to easily cope with, something that may come back to bite him.

Designated Number: Male student no. 14.

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Designated Weapon: Pokeball

Conclusion: I wanna be the very best - Like no one ever was - To catch them is my real test - To train them is my cause - I will travel across the land - Searching far and wide - Teach Pokemon to understand - The power that's inside...

In short. White's toast.

'The above biography is as written by Dr. Nic. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Dr. Nic

Kills: William Hearst, Rena Peters, Annaliese Hansen, Rosa Fiametta, Jimmy Brennan

Killed By: Jimmy Brennan

Collected Weapons: Pokeball (assigned weapon), pine branch (pulled from a tree, soon discarded), Molotov cocktail (from Nick Reid), shard of glass (from broken Molotov cocktail), Kel-Tech P11 (from William Hearst), shillelagh (from Rena Peters), fragmentation grenades x 2 (from Andrea Raymer)

Allies: None

Enemies: Nick Reid, Andrea Raymer, William Hearst, Rena Peters, Allen Birkman

Mid-game Evaluation:

Post-Game Evaluation:

Memorable Quotes:

Other/Trivia

 * In May '11 Alex was tied with Kitty Gittschall for the BKA

Threads
Below is a list of threads that contain Alex, in chronological order.

V4:
 * Waking Up is Hard to Do
 * Hideaway
 * I Swear I Won't Shoot
 * Late Dawns and Early Sunset
 * The Magi
 * Alone in the Dark
 * Camping in the Woods
 * Overdose on Adrenaline
 * The Lesson Today is How To Die
 * Monsters (Content Warning)
 * The Cavalry Arrives
 * Full Circle
 * Sympathy for the Devil
 * Into the Pit I Stare
 * Hurry Back
 * Rule the World
 * Over the Hill
 * And Through the Woods
 * To Grandmother's House We Go
 * The Aristocrats (Content Warning)

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Alex White. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''
 * Alex had some kernels of a really interesting idea, I think, but in game they really didn't hold up that well. His early threads were pretty interesting, as he at first was really more focused on self defense and dealing with his problems. I think, as a conflicted character struggling with the problems caused by losing his medication, Alex could've gone some very cool places, but instead he sort of fell into craziness, and was a lot less successful there.

There were quite a few factors that led to Alex struggling as a villain. The first was that his early-game writing was often difficult to work through. I've always felt that long posts should come up only when necessary, with narrative justification really being required for anything over, say, a thousand words. In Alex's case, often his posts would reiterate the same basic idea again and again so that they'd be longer, which made them a bit reader-unfriendly and also exaggerated his characteristics by presenting them so heavily and repeatedly. I did read every post Alex had, but I have a strong suspicion I'm in the minority, especially with stuff like the ~6,500 word one-shot.

Then there's the fact that Alex has big ties to another character belonging to his handler, who is, in fact, his first kill. The scene suffered from a lot of the typical issues that come with one handler having two characters together, and in this case the splitting of narratives made it hard to really follow Alex's reasoning. His bit with Rena was actually pretty successful on the whole, but after that Alex just went full-out evil.

Here, then comes the next issue, and probably the biggest: a very concerted effort was made to push Alex into the spotlight and frame him as one of the big antagonists of V4. For that, a lot of shock value was employed. Alex was often violent to a degree that didn't really make sense for the situation, but it wasn't consistent enough to be a character trait. The biggest example here is the thread "Monsters", which is largely where Alex veers hard off the tracks. His initial big action in the thread is waiting in ambush. Alex decides to do things quickly and cleanly, ambushing and fatally wounding fan-favorite Annaliese Hansen before sneaking out unseen. He is, at this point, dedicated to efficiency, and it's fairly effective. The problem is, literally minutes later and feet away, Alex runs into Felicia Carmichael and Rosa Fiametta. He attacks them, knocking Felicia out, and then slowly and brutally tortures Rosa to death. This comes out of nowhere, especially because he's trying for efficiency earlier in the same post. Then, after hedging his bets everywhere else, he doesn't kill Felicia, which again makes no sense for his character, especially because he then wanders out front to attack and try to kill someone else entirely.

Throughout all of this, the narrative is directly telling us that Alex is evil. To its credit, it's at least not justifying him (one of the most annoying trends in V4), but it makes it hard to view things as natural or take them seriously when the fourth wall is being broken to remind us that Alex is a bad guy. This persists in his assault on the rescue operation, which is a moment that has a lot of potential to be cool but doesn't really work out because there's not enough consistency in Alex for it to define his character. After that, he has another thread of interaction followed by seven consecutive threads with no interaction spanning two months of OOC time. This isn't anyone's fault, per se; several of the threads were open but at the time there were simply too many locations on the island and open threads were getting no love (I had a similar experience with one of my characters unable to find anyone to thread with for a month and a half). The issue here is, it leaves us with Alex not doing much. He ruminates a lot, but as his course is already pretty much settled he doesn't really develop or change during this time, which leaves a lot of stuff feeling awfully unneeded. Then it's off to his final confrontation, which is the most over the top action scene in V4 but has the good grace to be very self-aware about that and actually largely works for what it is.

The big problem, then, is that Alex doesn't have enough of a core or enough consistency to really make sense as a player. His actions push him as a villain first and a character second, and that left him with precious little to do when there wasn't a huge demand for villains and without really a lot carrying through his own narrative. - MurderWeasel